Republicans are doing everything they can to protect the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. They claim that they are doing this because ending these tax cuts would harm the economy.

But this claim isn’t new. In fact, it’s exactly what they said in the 1990?s, when Bill Clinton first increased taxes on the wealthy.

As we now know, the Clinton tax hikes on the richest Americans did not result in a “recession.” They did not increase our deficits. Rather, the government was placed on a path to a surplus and we had a strong economy that created 22.7 million jobs.

Average weekly wages grew by 21 percent from the start of Clinton’s first term to the end of his second term. These wages only grew by 2 percent during George W. Bush’s two terms. This isn’t to say that tax increases on the rich necessarily create jobs, but the evidence shows that they do not harm the economy in the ways that Republicans are claiming.

Recall that every single Republican in both the House and the Senate voted against the Clinton tax increase on the rich. As Republicans circle the wagons to protect the rich, we should remember how they made outlandish predictions in the 1990?s, and how their dire words are no more true now.

I would urge you to remember which party was so horrendously wrong on the economy during the Clinton presidency. And, that it's these same GOP leaders who want us to return to the failed budget policies of the George W. Bush regime. The very same people who spent away the U.S. Treasury's last surplus on tax cuts to the rich and two unnecessary wars want to do it again. Beware!